Too Much TV: Too Much To Be Thankful For

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Wednesday, November 26th, 2025:

PRODUCTION NOTES
Just a reminder that this will be the last newsletter until next Monday, due to the Thanksgiving holiday. If something happens that is worth writing about, I'll send something out. But otherwise, enjoy your holiday weekend (for those of you in the United States).

SOME WORDS OF THANKS
This is the time of the year in which we traditionally reflect back on the year and give thanks to blessings that have occurred. And it's impossible for me to do that without thanking all of you.

After nearly five years of doing this (gulp), this newsletter has nearly 160,000 free subscribers and it's due to many of you sharing this newsletter and reading it on a regular basis. I am not a cable TV analyst or some refugee from a legacy news outlet with a head start building an audience. This newsletter has grown organically and as much as I am proud of my work, I would shouting into the void if readers weren't responding and encouraging my work.

And speaking of encouragement, I want to thank all of you who have reached out this year to check on me or provide an extra bit of feedback. As you may or may not know, I've been battling some health issues that at times have really knocked me down. And when things were tough, knowing that I needed to get out a newsletter - wanting to get out a newsletter - provided a purpose and a reason not to lay around feeling sorry for myself.

I've also realized that unfortunately, I am not 30 years old any longer. I took some sick days in 2025, but no vacation time. Which I have come to understand is probably not sustainable year after year. In theory, I am cranking out five lengthy newsletters a week, and I may be the only person doing that with no staff helping me out. So once my health is back at 100 percent, I plan to spend some time better figuring out my work/life balance.

I also want to offer up my deepest thanks to all of you who have upgraded to a paid subscription. I realize times are tough for many people and that there are plenty of newsletters out there asking for your money. This newsletter - along with my web site - are my primary source of income. So these efforts would be impossible without your financial support.

Thank you everyone for supporting my work. I look forward to seeing what 2026 has to offer. And stick around for the 2nd Annual Global TV Awards at the end of 2025, which will include a sparkly new dedicated web site.

CHARLI XCX ON STARDOM
Singer Charli XCX now has her own Substack and has posted a really thoughtful reflection on the meaning on stardom and how it affects both the star and the audience:

Another thing about being a pop star is that you cannot avoid the fact that some people are simply determined to prove that you are stupid. I’ve always been completely fascinated by this and think it has something to do with self projection. Being a pop star has always been partially about being a fantasy and obviously the fantasy is decided mostly by the consumer. Marketing and strategy and packaging and presentation can do it’s best to guide a viewer to the desired outcome but at the end of the day the consumer gets to decide whether a pop star is a symbol of sex, or anarchy or intelligence or whatever else they wish to see. Sometimes people don’t like to be lumped in with general consensus, they like to go against the grain of public opinion and that’s when a totally opposite defiant stance is born. Instead of “she’s a sex symbol” it becomes “she’s a whore”. Instead of “she’s anarchic” it's “she’s a fucking drug addict”. Instead of “she’s intelligent” it’s “she’s pretentious and said a whole load of nothing” and so on and so on.

I find that this is often where the stupidity narrative can be born. I’ve always wondered why someone else’s success triggers such rage and anger in certain people and I think it probably all boils down to the fact that the patriarchal society we unfortunately live in has successfully brainwashed us all. We are still trained to hate women, to hate ourselves and to be angry at women if they step out of the neat little box that public perception has put them in. I think subconsciously people still believe there is only room for women to be a certain type of way and once they claim to be one way they better not DARE grow or change or morph into something else. Also people obviously want the clicks and an opposite stance is more likely to get that. When I joined substack there were a flurry of think pieces and questions as to why.

Some people theorized on the desire for long form content and a deeper connection with a fanbase, some people were just purely excited, some people suggested I might be heeding the advice of my record label in attempt to be omnipresent across all platforms, some people were surprised I even had enough brain cells left to write because of all that partying I do (!). The truth is I’ve always loved writing so why the fuck not? I felt generally welcomed to the community but also did see the small wave of people being annoyed I’d broken down the walls of my box they were determined to keep me in, the box, or should I say the brand, of the party girl who smokes cigs, does coke, loves the color green and has the capacity for nothing else. To them I’m a silly little idiot because that’s what they desire me to be. I guess sometimes that’s just part of the deal.

Honestly, she sounds like someone who would be interesting to interview. I am always drawn to thoughtful people who have a side to them that may not always be obviously apparent. 

THE STORY THAT WILL APPARENTLY NEVER END
Following the release of a fan video that went viral, Amanda Bynes was forced to give an interview denying rumors that former teen TV show producer Dan Schneider had gotten her pregnant. The video, according to Bynes, was spliced together with other unrelated clips to manufacture "lies for click bait."

When I was reporting about Schneider following his exit from Nickelodeon, the "Schneider got her pregnant" rumor was one of the first ones I heard from fans. And it didn't take long for me to disprove those allegations. In fact, according to critics, Bynes was only one of the former cast members Schneider had allegedly gotten pregnant and I never found the slightest evidence any of the rumors were true. 

And speaking of Schneider, you may recall that he sued the producers of the documentary Quiet On Set: The Dark Side Of Kids TV (which I appeared in), alleging the docuseries left viewers with the impression he had inappropropriate sexual contact with some of his young cast. The producers denied the allegations and the docuseries never makes that claim.

But Schneider filed his lawsuit about a month after the docuseries aired and after more than 18 months, it is still working its way through the court system. Which shows what happens when you have a case with two sides that have the money to slug it out in court.

Last November, a judge ruled the case could not be dismissed under California's Anti-SLAPP law.

SLAPP stands for Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation and refers to lawsuits brought by individuals and entities to dissuade their critics from continuing to produce negative publicity. The defendants in this case have argued Schneider's lawsuit fits this description and should be dismissed with prejudice (which means it can't be filed again).

The judge had to determine whether Schneider filed the suit in order restrict the free speech of the defendants, or was there reason to believe the plaintiff might be able to prove his allegations in a trial? In this situation, the judge isn't considering the arguments of the defendants. It comes down to whether or not the plaintiff has a reasonable reason to file the lawsuit and is there a reason to believe he might be able to prove those allegations in court?

The ruling was made in favor of Schneider, with Judge Chowdhury making this point:

However, this is manifestly not a case brought by Schneider on frivolous grounds, simply to harass defendants. He’s suing Defendants about a documentary they made about him, that focuses on his activities, and, which a reasonable viewer might conclude makes damning implications about his conduct. This is all to say that this is not the type of baseless lawsuit—one without “minimal merit” that the anti-SLAPP statute was designed to weed out.

The defendants - Warner Bros. Discovery (which owns Investigation Discovery), Maxine Productions (which produced the docuseries), Sony Pictures Television (which owns Maxine Productions), docuseries producers Emma Schwartz and Mary Robertson - appealed the decision and it has been in the Appeals Court ever since. There have been various motions back and forth this year, with the next update set for the end of December.

SPONSORED MENTION




ODDS AND SODS
* CNBC's Charles Gasparino has a piece in the NY Post about Netflix's bid for Warner Bros. Discovery which sounds a lot like many of the points I have been making for a couple of weeks. They are still the long shot, but I think Netflix has a much better shot at winning their bid than many industry analysts have been predicting.

* Comedy Central announced this morning that the South Park episode set to premiere tonight, entitled "Turkey Trot,” will show what happens when the Colorado mountain town’s annual Thanksgiving run “turns chaotic when Cartman uses questionable cutting-edge science to win the race."

* After a seven-month hiatus from his YouTube channel, Alton Brown is back with a new weekly series entitled Alton Brown Cooks Food, in which he promises to revisit recipes and theories from his original Food Network series Good Eats. The initial 15-minute video, in which he revisits his original OG turkey preparation, looks nearly identical to a Good Eats episode, albeit with the addition of Brown's beard, which is apparently the choice of many men who don't want to show off their aging faces and neck.

* YouTube TV and TelevisaUnivision have reached a distribution renewal, ending a nearly two-month blackout of channels including Hispanic broadcast network Univision. 

TWEET OF THE DAY



WHAT'S COMING TODAY AND THIS WEEKEND

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 26TH:
* Jingle Bell Heist (Netflix)
* Louvre Heist: Minute By Minute (Discovery)
* Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age (Apple TV+)
* Stranger Things Season Premiere (Netflix)
* The Beatles Anthology 2025 (Disney+)
* The Rocky Mountain Mortician Murder (Investigation Discovery) 
* Wondla Season Premiere (Apple TV) 

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 27TH:
* A Heart For Christmas (ALLBLK)
* Prep & Landing: The Snowball Protocol (Disney)
* Sidelined 2: Intercepted (Tubi)
* Son Of The Preacher (BET+)
* The Artist Series Premiere (The Network)
* We Met In December (Hallmark)

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 28TH:
* A PAW Patrol Christmas (CBS)
* Family Guy Holiday Special (Hulu)
* Heated Rivalry Series Premiere (HBO Max)
* It's Florida, Man Season Two Premiere (HBO)
* Left-Handed Girl (Netflix)
* Secret Life Of A Good Wife (LMN)
* The Christmas Spark (Great American Family)
* The More The Merrier (Hallmark)
* The Snow Must Go On (Hallmark)
* The Stringer: The Man Who Took The Photo (Netflix)

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 29TH:
* A Grand Old Opry Christmas (Hallmark)
* An Alpine Holiday (Hallmark)
* Christmas Everyday (Lifetime)
* Fake Yourself A Very Merry Christmas (OWN)
* The Christmas Campaign (Lifetime)
* The Christmas Checklist (UP tv)

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30TH:
* A Christmas In Amish Country (UP tv)
* Christmas At The Catnip Cafe (Hallmark)
* Married To Medicine Season Premiere (Bravo)
* 90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After? Season Premiere (TLC)
* 90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After? Pillow Talk Season Premiere (TLC)
* Savvy Sheldon Feels Good As Hell (The CW)
* The Christmas Cup (Hallmark)
* There's No Place Like Christmas (Great American Family)
* Words + Music Series Premiere (MGM+)

SEE YOU EARLY MONDAY MORNING!